Assessment
In all subjects, the final mark awarded comprises 30% internal assessment and 70% final examination.
Internal assessment
Internal assessment is assignments, essays and class tests that are completed during the semester. Your lecturer will select assessment tasks which suit the nature of the subject and help prepare you for the final exam.
The timely submission of internal assessment is a requirement in all subjects, and failure to submit without an acceptable reason can result in a zero mark being awarded.
All written work submitted must include an Assessment Cover Sheet on which you have signed the statement of authorship.
All internal assessment must be submitted by the due date or marks will be deducted. Written work will not be accepted for assessment after similar marked work has been returned to other students
Final Examination
The final examination is held in the exam period and is two or three hours long. Depending on the subject, exam questions may be multiple-choice, short answer, problem solving, case studies or essays. Please refer to the section on examinations below for further information.
Final grades
Your final grade is determined from both your internal and examination assessment. To pass any subject the overall mark you obtain must be 50% or higher AND the mark in the Final Examination in the subject must be 40% or higher. Students are awarded one of the following grades:
Grade
A: 80-100%
B: 70-79%
C: 60-69%
D: 50-59%
N: Failure
NC: Pass Conceded
NS: Did not present any work for assessment by examination, by other forms of assessment, or by both. To be counted as a failure.
NX: Excluded from examination. To be counted as a failure.
KN: Withdrawal. Counted as a failure - When more than two-thirds of the subject teaching has been completed.
SA: May present for supplementary assessment
SAH: May present for supplementary hurdle assessment
SP: Special examination granted
Where there is no grade listed, this indicates that no formal grade has yet been recorded; either the subject is ongoing or additional assessment is required.
Supplementary Assessment
Please refer to
policy of supplementary exams at: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/policies http://www.latrobe.edu.au/policies/assets/downloads/supplementary-assessment.pdf
Special Consideration
Students who feel that difficulties during their study have badly affected their results may apply for special consideration.
Relevant factors may include:
economic hardship
physical disability
continual illness
English Language learning difficulites
family or personal problems
lack of educational facilities at home
geographic isolation
Requests for Special Consideration must be submitted within 72 hours of the date of any final examination missed. Students must complete a ‘Request for Special Consideration’ form and supply originals of supporting evidence. Medical certificates will only be accepted if they are from registered medical providers in New South Wales, Queensland or Western Australia and if they state explicitly that you were not fit to sit an examination, or complete internal assessment, on a specific date or for a specific period of time.
Reconsideration of results
If you have valid reasons for thinking that the mark you have been awarded for either internal or examination assessment is incorrect then you may seek further information and/or appeal the mark awarded. There are several steps in this process:
- In the case of final examinations, you will need to make an appointment to see the Academic Services Officer to explain the reasons why you think the grade you have been awarded is wrong within 14 days of the release of official results. A remark request form will be forwarded to La Trobe University and a member of La Trobe academic staff will review your script and a copy of your exam script will be returned by La Trobe University. If you are still not satisfied with the mark awarded you may appeal to the Dean and finally the Ombudsman.
- In the case of internal assessment, a member of the academic staff at ACN will review your work and provide feedback.
- In no case may a reassessment lead to a lower mark.
Examinations
Bachelor of Business examinations are set and marked by La Trobe staff. La Trobe University lecturers also moderate a proportion of all grades of student assessment and have representation on the Board of Examiners’ Committee with external examiners, which approves all final grades and makes recommendations regarding Academic Progress and Qualifications.
Examination Timetables
Timetables for end-of-semester examinations are posted on noticeboards, and on the resource website six weeks before examinations. Seating allocation will be posted outside the examination venue 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the examination.
Examination Rules
- A candidate may bring into the examination venue writing instruments, an eraser, a ruler and such other materials and instruments as are prescribed for a particular examination. For this purpose, such other materials shall be those specified by the examiner and published as footnotes to the examination timetable. Normally, such materials will be detailed in the examination timetable, on the noticeboard and at the entrance to the examination venue.
- A candidate must bring to an examination venue and make available upon request by an authorised officer of the Examinations Committee such means of identification as is prescribed from time to time.
- A candidate may not bring into an examination venue, unless otherwise prescribed, any materials or paper or electronic instrument that contains or conveys any information relating to the subject or course for which the examination is being conducted.
- A candidate shall neither communicate with nor receive any communication from any other candidate during any examination.
- Smoking is not permitted within any examination centre.
- A candidate should normally remain silent throughout an examination unless it is necessary, for the purpose of the examination, to communicate with an examiner.
- A candidate must, unless otherwise directed by the examiner, occupy that seat specified alongside his/her name on the list of designated candidates’ seat numbers.
- A candidate shall not normally be permitted to enter an examination venue if a period of thirty minutes has expired since the commencement of the writing period.
- A candidate shall not normally be permitted to leave an examination venue during the first thirty minutes or during the final fifteen minutes of the period specified for writing.
- A candidate shall not normally be permitted to commence writing during the period specified for the reading of an examination paper.
- A candidate may not remove from an examination venue or any attached storeroom any material, script books or such items provided for an examination unless permitted to do so by an authorised member of the Examination Committee. Unless otherwise directed, a candidate must not leave the examination venue before an examiner has collected all the material.
- A candidate shall comply with all directions to candidates set out on any examination material supplied or specified on any notice displayed at the entry to an examination centre or announced by an examiner.
- Any student, whether or not a candidate for an examination, shall not act in any way or cause any act which may disrupt any examinations or cause any hardship or difficulty to other candidates or examiners.
For the purposes of these rules:
- An examination shall be deemed to run from the time at which candidates are invited to enter an examination venue by the examiner until such time as all candidates are permitted to leave an examination venue.
- Authorised members of the Examinations Committee shall be such members of staff that have been given authority to supervise the examination venue by the Examination Committee, and
- An examination venue shall be any area designated by the Examination Committee for the purpose of conducting an examination.
- If during an examination a student is found in possession of unauthorised material he/she could face disciplinary action. ‘In possession’ means on, or next to that student’s desk or chair, in or on their clothing, on their body (or in their wallet or purse).
- Failure to secure or hand in unauthorised material prior to the commencement of writing time may result in a penalty for academic misconduct in accordance with the University Regulations.
La Trobe University has strict rules to ensure that students’ work for assessment is actually the result of their individual effort, skills and knowledge and has not been produced by means that will give an unfair advantage over other students. La Trobe’s full Academic Misconduct Policy can be viewed at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/policies/assets/downloads/academic-misconduct.pdf.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism occurs when someone copies or reproduces another person's words or ideas and presents them as his or her own without proper acknowledgement. This includes copying the work of other students. It is a form of cheating and will be dealt with accordingly.
To avoid plagiarism students must acknowledge all sources from which they have obtained material or ideas used in assignments.
It is a serious act of misconduct to knowingly assist another student to plagiarise material (e.g. by lending a completed work to another student so that it can be copied and handed in as that student’s own work). Such misconduct will be punished as severely as is plagiarism itself.
The penalties for plagiarism are severe and are governed by University legislation. A student found to have plagiarised may be allocated no marks for the particular piece of work involved, or may be allocated a fail grade in that subject. In severe or repeat cases the student may be excluded from the University.
Syndication
You must also take care that, unless specifically instructed that a piece of work for assessment is to be produced jointly with other students, the work you submit has been prepared by you alone. If you collude with other students to prepare a piece of work jointly, or copy each other’s work and pass it off as an individual effort, it is syndication and is against University regulations. It is also unacceptable to copy another student’s work without his or her knowledge.
Cheating in examinations
Students must only bring to the examination venue those materials that are allowed under the examination rules. If students bring in any unauthorised materials, such as notes, they breach
the University regulations and it will be regarded as cheating, whether or not the student has used the materials in the exam.
Penalties for academic misconduct
The Board of Examiners’ Committee deals with breaches of regulations. If a student is alleged to have plagiarism or syndicated internal assessment, the matter will be referred to the Academic Director, who will inform La Trobe University. Penalties for plagiarism and syndication include from a deduction of marks and awarding a mark of zero for the work. Repeat and or serious instances may result in failure of an entire subject, or suspension/exclusion from further study. Cheating in examinations is referred to the Faculty of Law and Management Academic Misconduct Committee. If the allegation is proved, a penalty, normally failure of the subject, will be imposed. Severe penalties, such as suspension or expulsion can be imposed in appropriate cases.
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